Track Listing

1. Next To You
2. So Lonely
3. Roxanne
4. Hole In My Life
5. Peanuts
6. Can't Stand Losing You
7. Truth Hits Everybody
8. Born In The 50's
9. Be My Girl - Sally
10. Masoko Tanga
11. Roxanne

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29836 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .18 pounds
• Running time: 41 minutes

CD Description
The Police brashly asserted themselves on the American pop scene with OUTLANDOS D'AMOUR, their first album. Their distinctive mix of rock and reggae with Sting's jazz-based vocalsand slightly punk lyrics was unlike that of any other group. Before releasing any songs in America, manager Miles Copeland (Stewart's brother) arranged an American tour complete with rented van and borrowed equipment. With America thus primed, The Police's first single "Roxanne" (already a British hit) went as far as #32 on the charts.

Customer Reviews

EARLY ROCK REGGAE OUTING
This debut album by The Police is interesting although the songs are of varying quality. The best tracks include the melodic reggae-influenced numbers Can’t Stand Losing You, an emotionally gripping song about suicide, the hit Roxanne, about a lover that turns to prostitution, and So Lonely. The rythmic textures here are a novel blend of rock and reggae and these songs have tuneful hooks. Tracks like Truth Hits Everybody and Next To You are energetic rockers, whilst Masoko Tango has a more experimental feel with world music influences. This debut definitely made The Police stand out in 1978 and became a cult classic. Outlandos as a whole isn’t consistently satisfying although it certainly shows the promise that would later make them one of the most popular bands of the 1980s.

Perfect
Every album The Police released gets five stars. But Outlandos D'Amour is where their mainstream fame started, and rightly deserved. Three consumate musicians coming together to produce such a perfectly crafted masterpiece. I was 6 when I first heard Roxanne blaring from the radio when it was first released. Maybe too young to appreciate good music, but it made my ears prick up. Such a beautiful track. Such a shame people have tried to cover it and failed badly.

There are some real classics on here from a bygone musical era. They would blow away the Artic Monkeys of our day. Thanks to Stings fantastic song writing, Stewart Copelands sublime drumming and Andy Summers brilliant guitaring. Three gods of music on CD. Anyone with any appreciation for real musicians and how they interact will love it.

If The Police reformed for just one gig, I would sell my house and a kidney to be there.

A Great Beginning
The strange musical journey of The Police starts here - the group being an unusual comibination of a schoolteacher-turned-jazz-bassist, a slighty-ageing blues guitarist and an American AOR drummer. It's difficult to be objective about albums which you grew up with, because they represent part of your life, but I think Outlandos just edges it as my favourite. The recording and production is deliberately minimalistic - often it's just drums, bass and guitar, with imaginatively multi-layered vocals - and this allows the songs to shine through. Roxanne is easily the best and it's a crime the way a certain British broadcaster banned it from their playlist (one of three such bans the band experienced) - it's just a tragic tale, rather than some smutty song. The album is quite diverse, and ranges from the punky energy of Next To You and Peanuts, to the unusual (almost) instrumental Masoko Tango. Along the way they also show their white reggae roots in So Lonely and their sense of humour in the silly Be My Girl - Sally (which we as young teenagers found very daring and amusing - it just seems a bit naff now.) The jangly guitar rock of Truth Hits Everyone and Born In The 50s are also great tracks, even though one could perhaps get the group under the Trades Descriptions Act with the latter number! All in all, one of the best debut albums ever.